Title : History Of Mist
Author : Cthulu

[ BORING HISTORY STUFF ]

In the beginning, there were PAiN and POiSON, two small local (604)
art groups. One day, around the winter of '93, they decided to merge. So they
did. And the unholy spawn created from this demonic merger, this vast bloated
progeny of evilness, was called NWA, for New Wave Artists. The overwhelming
success of NWA in its home area code gave life to pitiful imitators, none of
whom lasted longer than several weeks. In any event, this promising fledgeling
group carried promise, yet was restricted to the 604. Then, one day, the
president of NWA, one "The Narccissist", now happy in NATiON and couriering
for us (hi chico!), and the foul treacherous president of a similar group
around Montreal, one "The Night Prowler", president of GRiP/AD (Graphic
Revolution in Progress/Art Division), decided to merge. The product of this
merger was iMPERiAL, which stood for nothing. However, it did quite well,
attracting many applicants throughout it's tumultuous 5-month lifespan. Under
the careful governing of The Narccissist and the slightly-less-careful
vice-governing of The Night Prowler, it grew in power, only suffering a slight
setback after the third month when its 3 best artists, Asian Knight, Vanquish,
and Darkforce left to NATiON, NATiON, and UNiON, respectively. In fact, we were
relaxing in the glow of our best pack ever, our fifth and final one, when,
mysteriously, 3 days after the release, the entire Montreal side packed up and
left to Drift, a group founded by a former imp member, Twisted Terrorist,
formerly of ICE and convicted ANSI ripper. The Narccissist, despondent over the
loss of half of his group, decided to throw in the towel and fled to NATiON
along with what remained of iMPERiAL's big talent, The Masked Pirate, Young,
and Suicidal Maniac. The rest of iMP's 604 members (me, Summoner, Beatle,
Magik Elvis, and others) blinked our eyes in surprise. And we were doing so
well! Just this month Imp had been rated the # 5 art group in the world by Blur
magazine. Number 5! But, enough whining, the time for that would come. We
needed to re-band the remaining members, and gather some new talent to replace
the old lost to Nation and Drift. So we did. The End. Now, wasn't that boring?
[ BIRTH OF A GROUP STUFF ]
Anyhoo, we decided to make the group an experimental democratic
prototype where lots of voting goes on and every department is treated
fairly and smartly, so we elected department chairmen. A prez is voted each
month to throw in his deciding vote each month in case the chairs tie votes
in group policy. Now, all that remained was to choose a name. Well, we went
through many choices, from NAPiFORM (meaning turnip-shaped), to FiSH (blub
blub), but the three names that stuck were KiTHE (meaning eager to prove
oneself), KiTSCH (meaning to parody mainstream art), and MiSTiGRiS. We voted
for the last one, which requires a tad of interpretation. The word mistigris
is pronounced "Misty-gree", and is a variation of poker where the joker can
have any value. Now, viewed under the miraculous veil of interpretation, it
resolves to define the whole art scene as a simple card game, with us as the
jokers. However, we have potentially limitless value if we apply ourselves. I
like to interpret things, and write it down. That's why I'm a lit guy. Anyway,
we managed to salvage the name "KiTSCH" for our net, and "KiTHE" for the name
of this newsletter. Rejoice! In any event, all three names ended up being
used, so we don't wanna see any "KiTSCH"s or "KiTHE"s popping up next month.
Tsk tsk.
Well, I've blathered entirely too much for this month. I shall simply
read out some of our policies, then let you be on your way. MiSTiGRiS would
like to become known as a place with a calming, relaxed atmosphere, where
artists can lay back and relax. Our membership rules are fairly flexible, and
all we ask is that you produce a quality piece of art at least every two
months. Members can feel free to leave any time to try to advance in the art
world, but any one who's fed up with all the crap in the scene out there is
free to quit whatever they're in and join MiST for a recuperative stint.
Members who do leave will be re-admitted at any time, but chances are that with
all the shit out there, they'll be back to stay. Repeat offenders may be viewed
with less respect, however. We doubt you'll find many other groups with as
relaxed policies as us, and, if you do, we'd like to merge with 'em. 8)
Seriously. However, there isn't much risk of that.
To recap: (for all of you who didn't read the previous 3 pages of
mindless drivel)
o MiSTiGRiS is a direct descendant of iMPERiAL
o we are all nice guys
o we would like to provide a comfortable haven for anyone
who feels hounded by all the shit in the scene right now.
o members who leave will be re-accepted without questions
o the group runs under a total democracy. if you don't like
the prez, or a policy, do something about it!
o we welcome any one who comes to introduce new ways of
doing things, or who wants to try a new form of art and
not look foolish. we don't worry about looking foolish.
o blub blub